Prepared for any eventuality

2017-07-24

A small company with a big machine: As a small family-owned company in Sulzbach an der Saar, VIP GmbH & Co. KG not only puts its faith in a ZEISS ACCURA for quality assurance but has also purchased a ZEISS FixAssist. The manufacturer of machine components is delighted by the considerable time-saving provided by the alignment device.

A rather unusual picture presents itself in a production shop in idyllic Saarland: A ZEISS ACCURA, a high-end measuring machine, is in service in a family-owned company, VIP GmbH & Co. KG, with only nine employees. An extremely large investment for a small company. But nevertheless indispensable, as CEO Michael Preinfalk explains. The reason for this is that errors may not occur, since the company manufactures almost exclusively ready-to-install parts according to the customer's drawings.
When VIP received an order for the pre-turning and measurement of planet gears with drill holes on both sides, which have to be located at an appropriate angle to each other, the problem of manual measurement quickly became apparent: the time required, for measurements which were ultimately not precise enough for the customer, was much too high.

It was clear to Michael Preinfalk that something had to be done. "A measuring machine which enables you to carry out a high number of measurements in a relatively short space of time, especially as regards form and position tolerances, makes the work a lot easier for the quality inspection.” As the person responsible for quality management, Preinfalk appreciates the high accuracy of the ZEISS measuring machines and the precise documentation of the results - so the decision was made to opt for the ACCURA.

No reasonable measurement results without an alignment device
Since the planet gears are relatively wide, long styli have to be used to measure the overall roundness. The tapered inner diameter must also be measured. The internal drill holes are located at an angle of 90 degrees to the probe head. If the cube on the plate extension is not correctly aligned, scanning with the shaft occurs during measurement – which corrupts the measuring result.

A quality manager insists on having accessories, in order to prevent this and to be able to work professionally with the coordinate measuring machine. The FixAssist VAST alignment device was selected in this case. "A coordinate measuring machine may be able to measure with high precision, but if the stylus is not straight, it is of no use – you will not obtain precise results."

The styli must be positioned parallel to the CMM axes, in order to prevent collisions during the alignment of the workpiece. "It's great to have such an alignment device, especially if you work with plate extensions.” For this reason, Michael Preinfalk is glad to have the FixAssist every time a plate is modified. First and foremost, the CEO needed to widen the scope with an eye to the future. "Since we manufacture to order, almost anything can come from the customers. It's therefore important to be prepared for any eventuality."

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